HAMILTON, N.Y. — Every time Syracuse shot it low, Brandon Burke was there to make the save.

When Randy Staats ripped a shot in the first half, Burke saved it with his right arm. When Dylan Donahue went for a point-blank shot late in the third quarter, Burke stopped it from his knees.

The Orange — a team that makes its offensive living on low-ball attempts — needed to change things up against a goalkeeper whose strength was dipping low.

“When we had a timeout (in the fourth quarter),” SU head coach John Desko said, “I was just, ‘We’re shooting the ball high, guys. This isn’t funny anymore.’”

Nicky Galasso corrected the issue just in time to score two late goals and propel the top-ranked Orange (12-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) to a 9-7 win over No. 13 Colgate (10-5) on Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium. Syracuse dominated possession thanks to an 18-of-20 day for Ben Williams at the X. As a result, SU outshot the Raiders 43-26, including 23-15 for shots on goal.

But Burke combatted that with 14 saves before the Orange finally altered its shooting approach to get the win.

“The offense, they kept shooting,” Williams said. “And it wasn’t their best day. But you got to give to them. They got us a victory.”

Burke’s 14 saves were the second most he made all season, as were the 43 shots peppered in his direction.

He did a great job getting in position. Late in the first half, Randy Staats bounced a shot well in front of the goal, forcing Burke quickly to his knees before the ball crept above his head and into the goal. On the first play of the second half, Galasso hoisted a shot from 10 yards away that Burke stopped by getting a stick on it.

“You have to give him a lot of credit,” Galasso said. “He played a very good game. A good goalie. He stood on his head and he made a bunch of good saves. Next time we just have to change our elevation, shoot high.”

Galasso said the team knew Burke’s low-ball proficiency. It just took an in-game adjustment to take advantage of his weaknesses. On Galasso’s game-winning shot to put SU up 8-7 with 8:47 to play, he hit the top-right corner of the goal.

“Nicky shot it right where you should shoot it against this goaltender,” Desko said.

Syracuse shot 20.9 percent, it’s lowest of the season. When it wasn’t getting saved low, shots were flying wide to the left and right and even high.

But on a day when Williams dominated at the X and Bobby Wardwell played well late in the game, the offense had enough time to find itself late.

“We know where we wanted to shoot on him, but we kept shooting it low,” Desko said. “That was frustrating… We were kind of looking around wondering what was going on today. But great to get out of here with a W.”

Published on May 2, 2015 at 7:39 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3